We really enjoy our time seeing family and reconnecting with friends at our home base in San Angelo. Staying at Goodfellow AFB Rec Camp, which is right on Lake Nasworthy, offers easy access to lots of outdoor fun. If you haven’t ever been to San Angelo, there are so many great things to see and do here. It’s a little off the beaten path, but this hidden oasis is well worth the drive! San Angelo has about 100,000 people, and while it doesn’t have an interstate, it has a big variety of attractions and events to keep you busy. I’m going to brag a little….
A Great Town:
The San Angelo visitor center is a beautiful spot along the Concho River where you can find out about all the great things to see and do in the area. The International Water Lily Collection is recognized as THE premiere collection of water lilies in existence. Miss Hattie’s Bordello Museum is a chance to learn about a famous brothel with a secret tunnel. San Angelo used to be the sheep capitol of the world until the drought of 2011 (we are still #2 currently) and today you can see numerous sheep statues around town with whimsical names such as Lucky Ewe and Wild ‘n Wooly.
Fort Concho National Historic Landmark, a US Army fort, contains 23 original and restored structures. It was established in 1867 to protect frontier settlements against hostile threats and map the vast West Texas region. Many events are held at the fort each year, including Frontier Days and Christmas at Fort Concho.
Graduation:
This trip home was especially exciting because our daughter was graduating from Angelo State University. We were so happy to see Caitlyn get her doctorate in Physical Therapy and blessed that family members Mom, Manny, Kim, and Pat were able to come from out of town to be here as well.
As part of a very busy graduation week, we got to watch Caitlyn’s research project presentation. She and her partner, Brandon, did an excellent job! We also attended the White Coat ceremony and awards dinner. What a great finish to three years of hard work.
Family Time:
I always think that going home will be quiet and more relaxing compared to traveling, but somehow we seem to stay busy with a whirlwind of activities. In addition to graduation, during our 6 weeks at home we celebrated Easter, both of our children’s birthdays, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day. We also visited some of our favorite spots, including Eggemeyer’s General Store, the Cactus Book Shop, and the Christoval Vineyards and Winery. A new pocket park called Heritage Park is almost completed in the downtown area–we saw Hank the Cowdog and found our commemorative brick.
Fun with Friends:
Going home gave us the chance to see friends old and new. We took Stu and Sue to the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts as well as biking in San Angelo State Park and kayaking at Middle Concho Park. We all had a great dinner with fellow Entegra owners David and Rhonda and introduced them to The Latest Scoop, our favorite ice cream place of all time!
We also enjoyed a Diva’s Concert and a Friday Fun Run with our Road Lizards group, of course followed by more Latest Scoop. But we did work it off competing in the Run in the Sun race! If you look closely at the picture, you can see us (I have on a bright yellow top and white hat). I got 2nd place in my age group–there’s less competition as you get older! Thanks too to Ross and Kristi for hosting another fun dinner at their beautiful home:)
We visited Paintbrush Alley with dear friends Sharon and Bobby. This is a new area in town featuring local artists and is amazing.
The wildflowers were beautiful this spring! Even though San Angelo is in the drier area of west Texas, we have a lot of color in the springtime….especially this year with all of the extra rain.
So another visit home is in the books. We saw family and friends, had lots of fun, and even survived tornado warnings (see article: Three things we learned about tornadoes and camping). We leave knowing our storage unit has been straightened out, our doctor and dentist appointments completed, and both kids are working adults! On toward Colorado and Utah next….
We’re so happy we could be there for all the celebrations for Caitlyn. She’s amazing, just like her Mom. We love San Angelo and of course seeing our family!
Thanks– we are so happy you were able to be there for all the celebrations too! We’ve had a lot of fun together in our little town:)
What a great trip back home and way to go Caitlyn, I know you are very proud! I really like the subtle changes that you have made to the Blog theme since I was last on here. PS it was good seeing you last week, I have missed you dearly.
Thanks, Sandi! We are very proud of Caitlyn and did enjoy our time at home…although it passed very quickly. It was great seeing you and all the cousins at the reunion in Nags Head. I have really enjoyed reconnecting with everyone and learning about their adult lives:) Thanks for the compliments on my blog–can I ask which changes specifically you like?
Hi, Carol and I enjoy reading your travel stories and the pictures too. This one is especially neat since it is about our home town San Angelo. Also Run in the Sun was one of my favorites. I had the privilege of being the race director one year when we live there.
We are missing having ice cream from The Latest Scoop right now too.
Safe travels and fun times ahead for y’all.
Hi David and Carol– Glad to see you are still following along with us on our travels. Yes, San Angelo is special to us too and has so much to offer. I think people overlook it sometimes in favor of bigger cities, but I love the small town atmosphere. We definitely miss the Latest Scoop when we are away! I hope we will run into each other again the next time we are both in town:)
Largest city in TX not on a freeway is not true. Several larger
Hi Jim–thanks for checking out my blog. I don’t claim to be an expert on Texas statistics– I got the information from the City of San Angelo’s website. I think it specifically refers to interstate highways though, rather than just a freeway. Either way, it’s a great town and doesn’t have all the traffic of a big city so we really enjoy it.
Sue and Stu agree with what Robin said about San Angelo.
That’s a fine city, freeway or not, the city has managed to hold onto a small town, friendly feeling as it grows larger.
We both enjoyed being short time neighbors the Mike and Robin and hope to be back in the fall for our next, longer visit.
We really enjoyed sharing some of our town with you two during your visit! Hopefully we will be able to join up again soon.